What makes soda fattening

Sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with weight gain. Table sugar sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup are composed of two molecules — glucose and fructose — in roughly equal amounts. Glucose can be metabolized by every cell in your body, whereas fructose can only be metabolized by one organ — your liver When you consume too much, your liver becomes overloaded and turns the fructose into fat Some of the fat gets shipped out as blood triglycerides, while part of it remains in your liver.

Over time, this can contribute to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease 13 , Excessive amounts may contribute to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

In particular, fructose is linked to a significant increase in the dangerous fat around your belly and organs. This is known as visceral fat or belly fat Excessive belly fat is tied to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease 16 , In one week study, 32 healthy people consumed beverages sweetened with either fructose or glucose Those who consumed glucose had an increase in skin fat — which is not linked to metabolic disease — while those who consumed fructose saw their belly fat significantly increase.

But when you drink sugary soda, your cells may become less sensitive or resistant to the effects of insulin. When this happens, your pancreas must make even more insulin to remove the glucose from your bloodstream — so insulin levels in your blood spike. This condition is known as insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is arguably the main driver behind metabolic syndrome — a stepping stone towards type 2 diabetes and heart disease Animal studies demonstrate that excess fructose causes insulin resistance and chronically elevated insulin levels 20 , 21 , One study in healthy, young men found that moderate intake of fructose increased insulin resistance in the liver Since excessive fructose intake may lead to insulin resistance, it is unsurprising that numerous studies link soda consumption to type 2 diabetes.

In fact, drinking as little as one can of sugary soda per day has been consistently linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes 24 , 25 , 26 , A recent study, which looked at sugar consumption and diabetes in countries, showed that for every calories of sugar per day — about 1 can of soda — the risk of type 2 diabetes increased by 1.

To put that in perspective, if the entire population of the United States added one can of soda to their daily diet, 3. How true are these claims? Is soda bad for your health, and what are the options? Is it bad? Is soda bad for health? Is diet soda bad for health? Is carbonated water bad for you? Alternatives to soda. Scientists identify new cause of vascular injury in type 2 diabetes. Adolescent depression: Could school screening help?

Related Coverage. Is Coca-Cola bad for you? Is diet soda bad for you? Know the health risks. How soda impacts diabetes risk. What to know about diet soda and diabetes. Alternatively, drinking water in place of sugary drinks or fruit juices is associated with lower long-term weight gain. Strong evidence indicates that sugar-sweetened soft drinks contribute to the development of diabetes. According to a large, long-term study of 37, men and 80, women in the U.

There is sufficient scientific evidence that decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption will reduce the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases.

Compounding the problem is that sugary drink portion sizes have risen dramatically over the past 40 years, leading to increased consumption among children and adults:. Beverage companies spend billions of dollars marketing sugary drinks, yet generally rebuffs suggestions that its products and marketing tactics play any role in the obesity epidemic. Adding to the confusion, studies funded by the beverage industry are four to eight times more likely to show a finding favorable to industry than independently-funded studies.

There is a range of healthier beverages that can be consumed in their place, with water being the top option. If the taste is too bland, try a naturally flavored sparkling water. You can do this with home-brewed tea as well, like this sparkling iced tea with lemon, cucumber, and mint. Reducing our preference for sweet beverages will require concerted action on several levels—from creative food scientists and marketers in the beverage industry, as well as from individual consumers and families, schools and worksites, and state and federal government.

We must work together toward this worthy and urgent cause: alleviating the cost and the burden of chronic diseases associated with the obesity and diabetes epidemics in the U. Fortunately, sugary drinks are a growing topic in policy discussions both nationally and internationally. Learn more about how different stakeholders can take action against sugary drinks.

The contents of this website are for educational purposes and are not intended to offer personal medical advice. You should seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The Nutrition Source does not recommend or endorse any products.

Skip to content The Nutrition Source. Harvard T. The Nutrition Source Menu. Search for:. How sweet is it? There are 4. Now, imagine scooping up 7 to 10 teaspoons full of sugar and dumping it into your ounce glass of water. Does that sound too sweet?

This can be a useful tip to visualize just how much sugar is in your drink. Body weight and obesity The more ounces of sugary beverages a person has each day, the more calories he or she takes in later in the day. This may prompt a person to keep eating even after intake of a high-calorie drink. It is possible that sweet-tasting soft drinks—regardless of whether they are sweetened with sugar or a calorie-free sugar substitute —might stimulate the appetite for other sweet, high-carbohydrate foods.

Louis dentist who is concerned about more than just your teeth, please call Downtown St. Louis or Clayton today for an appointment with Dr. Chris Hill at our downtown or Clayton office. The Fizz Makes You Hungry The first suggestion of this connection came in September of this year when researchers from Palestine looked at the impact of giving rats a sugary soda, a flat sugary soda, or tap water to drink. Far better to cut down and then eliminate sodas from your diet altogether.

By Dr. Chris Hill January 4th, Restorative Dentistry. Share This Story! Facebook Twitter Email.